There is a deep chasm between some who are posting on here (vast experience, numerous big game animals shot and cleaned, etc) and others just starting out. The fact remains, we all had to start somewhere. and there is nothing better than having someone with a bit of experience show the newbee how to proceed. I have an anecdotal experience to relate here. I was moose hunting with a couple of fellows back in 1973. One had never shot a moose before, but had killed a couple of deer previously. I walked out of camp the first morning, and less than 20 minutes later, had a delicious young Bull on the ground. I cleaned it all up, and headed back to camp for breakfast. On the way back I heard a few shots from the direction the inexperienced hunter had taken. I should have gone to help, but reasoned, "He's shot deer, how much help will he really need?" Quite some time later, he comes into camp, blood from eyebrows to bootlaces, and his first question to me was "Did you shoot that other moose up the trail a way?" I answered to the affirmative, and then he said, "you changed your clothes didn't you?" I said no, and he as much as accused me of lying. I had to laugh a bit when he said: "I noticed you split the brisket, I didn't realize that would make it easier" He had practically crawled right inside his first Bull Moose to pull out the entrails, since with deer, he never bothered to split the brisket. These days, I am embarrassed if I get very much blood on myself when I dress game in the field. p226, keep on asking, paying attention and enjoying the positive responses. You will learn in time. A lot of great suggestions on here. Regards, Eagleye.
I wonder if every hunter is supposed to be good at skinning game.
- Thread starter p226
- Start date
Eagleye said:
HA HA
I remember my buddy telling me about his first moose and he admits he was right inside the cavity working by himself. Priceless.
I am 10 times better than my first moose, but a lot of it is tools too. You know what works and what doesn't. I have a small folding Kershaw saw that is the cat's ass. Saves so much work.
In AB ( not sure of the regs for this in Ont) we have to leave proof of ### on until it's at the butcher so if you do it this way keep that in mind.Lazy Ike said:
I have done alot of animals over the years, growing up on a farm where we butchered all our own meat. I still have the gag reflex try to kick in the first animal of the season: you'd think I'd be over that by now
. I'll try the smile theory to see if it helps.There is alot of good advice here for the newbie, good to see. The only thing I have to add is:
Take your time, it's not a race. You are more likely to clip a gut if you're in a rush.
p226 said:
Perhaps the deep chasm Eagleye speaks of is a result of the tone by which the question is being asked. You have to admit, it does beg for a slight dosage of sarcasm. That being said and on to a more helpful end, I posted a means of taking care of your game in the field without the need to get yourself entangled in the "entrails"...uuueeeeewwww, grooossss. The magazine article mentioned herein describes it very well with pictures. Because of copyright laws, I cannot post it here although I would if legal. But you can order back issues of Western Sportsman.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122817&highlight=care,+game
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
First big animal I shot was on a marsh at 8 pm.
By the time I got to him and caught my breath it was darK.
I was by myself, had never cleaned a big game animal before, and couldn't see my hand in front of me.
Cell phone to my ear, knife in hand my buddy guided me through.
What a F#$ing mess I was in. I dropped the cell phone in the deer twice.
I burst a piss bag(bladder) all over myself, I gagged a half dozen times, covered head to toes in blood, and positive something would soon come out on the marsh to eat me and the deer, thinking I was a cripple.
I was in a chev Lumina. Well you should have seen me at the gas station on the way home to grab a coffee. Covered in blood, hoofs stickiking out my tied down car trunk!
Ahhhhhhh. Looking back now it was as good as it gets !
By the time I got to him and caught my breath it was darK.
I was by myself, had never cleaned a big game animal before, and couldn't see my hand in front of me.
Cell phone to my ear, knife in hand my buddy guided me through.
What a F#$ing mess I was in. I dropped the cell phone in the deer twice.
I burst a piss bag(bladder) all over myself, I gagged a half dozen times, covered head to toes in blood, and positive something would soon come out on the marsh to eat me and the deer, thinking I was a cripple.
I was in a chev Lumina. Well you should have seen me at the gas station on the way home to grab a coffee. Covered in blood, hoofs stickiking out my tied down car trunk!
Ahhhhhhh. Looking back now it was as good as it gets !
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
IN MY DEFENSE
It was Late evening, driving back from home,always have a rifle or a stick with a nail in it with me somewhere, I went for a drive in a back road, there was the animal. I wasn't hunting so much as just out for a drive.
I would have had someone with me who knew what they were doing had I been hunting!!!
3 more true ones.
Had an uncle ruin a workin mans dresshirt (you know the white short sleeve ones with a pen in the chest pocket) and pants cause he saw a moose driving home from work and just had to crawl out accross the bog to get a shot. (missed)
3. My mom is terrified of birds (an actual phobia)
Well when I was about 15 she got stopped by the copps for speeding in our Monte Carlo at the time (you know, the old 21 ft hunting vehicle)
When she went to get the registration threre was a Partridge in the glove box,
She SKITZED OUT!!!!! I thought the cop was gonna shoot her.
Night before me and Dad went for a quick 45 minute walk/hunt with the dog and got one partridge. Coming home the dog wouldn't leave it alone so Dad put it in the glove box and forgot to bring it in.
4. As for the Lumina incident, at the time I didn't have a shed, so I hung it at my buddies place who had a garage (middle of an urban centre)
3 days later I figure it's been hung long enough so I go to his place in the Lumina around 8pm to get my deer to drop it to a guy we knew who'd cut it.
At my friends house we take the deer down, wrap it in Garbage bags and he grabs one end and I grab the other.
With drops of blood on our hands we proceed to carry the big wrapped carcass to the trunk of my car. He then gives me a twenty to pick up a few beer for later on. Remember the Urban Centre part.
Well I felt like Tony Soprano the whole way to the butcher !!!
It was Late evening, driving back from home,always have a rifle or a stick with a nail in it with me somewhere, I went for a drive in a back road, there was the animal. I wasn't hunting so much as just out for a drive.
I would have had someone with me who knew what they were doing had I been hunting!!!
3 more true ones.
Had an uncle ruin a workin mans dresshirt (you know the white short sleeve ones with a pen in the chest pocket) and pants cause he saw a moose driving home from work and just had to crawl out accross the bog to get a shot. (missed)
3. My mom is terrified of birds (an actual phobia)
Well when I was about 15 she got stopped by the copps for speeding in our Monte Carlo at the time (you know, the old 21 ft hunting vehicle)
When she went to get the registration threre was a Partridge in the glove box,
She SKITZED OUT!!!!! I thought the cop was gonna shoot her.
Night before me and Dad went for a quick 45 minute walk/hunt with the dog and got one partridge. Coming home the dog wouldn't leave it alone so Dad put it in the glove box and forgot to bring it in.
4. As for the Lumina incident, at the time I didn't have a shed, so I hung it at my buddies place who had a garage (middle of an urban centre)
3 days later I figure it's been hung long enough so I go to his place in the Lumina around 8pm to get my deer to drop it to a guy we knew who'd cut it.
At my friends house we take the deer down, wrap it in Garbage bags and he grabs one end and I grab the other.
With drops of blood on our hands we proceed to carry the big wrapped carcass to the trunk of my car. He then gives me a twenty to pick up a few beer for later on. Remember the Urban Centre part.
Well I felt like Tony Soprano the whole way to the butcher !!!
lol - pretty good stuff seal
How's this one - on a bear hunt, we tagged a bear just as dusk was approaching. I had to make it home that night, but i was a good 3 hrs away, so we worked and got 'er skinned and cleaned. (bit of a story there, but i'll leave it for now. ) it was midnite by the time i hit the road, and 3 am when i got home.
Now - we had to split the bear at one point, and for those who don't know this the top half of a bear with no head or paws looks almost exactly like a human being. Rather hauntingly so. I decided to cover the beast with a tarp. My pick up had a canopy, but what the heck, better not to freak out the neighbours.
I got home, and of course i couldn't take it into the butchers till the morning. So i went to bed.
The girl friend i was dating at the time (a vegitarian i might add) woke up in the morning and asked to borrow the truck to run an errand. Without thinking, i said 'sure'. She was just going out the door when i bolted up, remembering there was a bear in the back AND SHE HAD NO IDEA, being asleep when i got home.
I reached the front door and it was like one of those slow-motion scenes from a movie - she was just opening the back as I yelled 'NOOOOOOOOO'. Of course the tarp had slipped.
She turned to look at me, then looked inside the box.
Well, she had a pair of lungs on her, that girl. It was about three weeks before the neighbourhood's dogs returned to the area.
How's this one - on a bear hunt, we tagged a bear just as dusk was approaching. I had to make it home that night, but i was a good 3 hrs away, so we worked and got 'er skinned and cleaned. (bit of a story there, but i'll leave it for now. ) it was midnite by the time i hit the road, and 3 am when i got home.
Now - we had to split the bear at one point, and for those who don't know this the top half of a bear with no head or paws looks almost exactly like a human being. Rather hauntingly so. I decided to cover the beast with a tarp. My pick up had a canopy, but what the heck, better not to freak out the neighbours.
I got home, and of course i couldn't take it into the butchers till the morning. So i went to bed.
The girl friend i was dating at the time (a vegitarian i might add) woke up in the morning and asked to borrow the truck to run an errand. Without thinking, i said 'sure'. She was just going out the door when i bolted up, remembering there was a bear in the back AND SHE HAD NO IDEA, being asleep when i got home.
I reached the front door and it was like one of those slow-motion scenes from a movie - she was just opening the back as I yelled 'NOOOOOOOOO'. Of course the tarp had slipped.
She turned to look at me, then looked inside the box.
Well, she had a pair of lungs on her, that girl. It was about three weeks before the neighbourhood's dogs returned to the area.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
That system has some big flaws beside the ### thig!joe m said:In AB ( not sure of the regs for this in Ont) we have to leave proof of ### on until it's at the butcher so if you do it this way keep that in mind.
I have done alot of animals over the years, growing up on a farm where we butchered all our own meat. I still have the gag reflex try to kick in the first animal of the season: you'd think I'd be over that by now
There is alot of good advice here for the newbie, good to see. The only thing I have to add is:
Take your time, it's not a race. You are more likely to clip a gut if you're in a rush.
One being that you HAVE to get to the filet anyway, no self respecting hunter would leave that , and many of us enjoy heart, etc.
I have a morbid curiosity for autopsy, and like to know where and how the bullet did what it did, as well as some other stuff.
Also, I like to pack water with me wherever I go to clean out the body cavity.
I tend to wash the heck out of EVERTHING ( must have been a racoon oin a former life!)
One reason I like to hunt with a boat!
cat
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trubluscrew
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
Just a quick note:
To suppress the gag reflex; Smile. Seriously. At work, I get to go to some really interesting (and smelly) places. I use to use Vick's under the nose trick; but I forgot the Vick's once too many times. (That and when your humping a 400 pounder down a flight of stairs, you tend to breathe harder and the Vick's sometimes wants to make you sneeze. It just wouldn't do to dump the smelly guy on your partner).
To suppress the gag reflex; Smile. Seriously. At work, I get to go to some really interesting (and smelly) places. I use to use Vick's under the nose trick; but I forgot the Vick's once too many times. (That and when your humping a 400 pounder down a flight of stairs, you tend to breathe harder and the Vick's sometimes wants to make you sneeze. It just wouldn't do to dump the smelly guy on your partner).
I've seen this method posted before and there supposed to be a way to pull the loin ( small cut on each side to detatch and remove). I agree there would be alot of wasted meat with this but it is used by some.catnthehatt said:That system has some big flaws beside the ### thig! O
ne being that you HAVE to get to the filet anyway, no self respecting hunter would leave that , and many of us enjoy heart, etc.
I have a morbid curiosity for autopsy, and like to know where and how the bullet did what it did, as well as some other stuff.
Also, I like to pack water with me wherever I go to clean out the body cavity.
I tend to wash the heck out of EVERTHING ( must have been a racoon oin a former life!)
One reason I like to hunt with a boat!
cat
wow!!!!
This thread is just filled with I'm "Holier Than Thou" Bull S#iT
To say that somebody is a thrill killer because he doesn't want to be covered in whatever he kills is a little extreme isn't it.....I have shot a damned good number of hares, squirrels, Turkeys, Deer, Bear, Moose, etc, etc, etc. And skinned/cleaned every one of them, that doesn't mean I want to be buried up to my armpits in any of them. One can clean an animal without being covered in blood and guts .....I do it all the time and I in no way consider myself a thrill killer.
This thread is just filled with I'm "Holier Than Thou" Bull S#iT
To say that somebody is a thrill killer because he doesn't want to be covered in whatever he kills is a little extreme isn't it.....I have shot a damned good number of hares, squirrels, Turkeys, Deer, Bear, Moose, etc, etc, etc. And skinned/cleaned every one of them, that doesn't mean I want to be buried up to my armpits in any of them. One can clean an animal without being covered in blood and guts .....I do it all the time and I in no way consider myself a thrill killer.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
thats right boys...keep bein dicks unwilling to help people new to hunting and you wonder why so many people think gun owners are a bunch of idiots. i see how some of you talk to a fellow hunter/gun owner and shake my head...can only imagine how you talk to someone that doesnt like hunting...
one word for the pricks in this thread...####tards.
and you wonder why so many people think gun owners are a bunch of idiots. i see how some of you talk to a fellow hunter/gun owner and shake my head...can only imagine how you talk to someone that doesnt like hunting...one word for the pricks in this thread...####tards.
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
I hadn't read the whole thread until now. Man there sure are a few guys here who do a good job promoting the hunters image. There are lots of offers to help a new guy learn and lots of great advice. It;s great to see.
As for a few of the posts on the first page, Man, where are you idiots coming from. Someone starts off with "I'm new" and you guys jump on it.
"Don't call yourself hunter"
Don't you, dumbass.
If you don't posess the people skills to help in the learning and recruiting of new people to our community of hunting, then just shut up !!!
You give the potential hunter, a negative feeling right from the start.
My work involves all kinds of blood and guts and everything in between, and no I don't like the smell, and no I don't like being covered in it. Nothing wrong with it !!!
As for fish and deer and all else. My girl has shot lots of animals, cooked em, and we ate em !
I'm pretty sure she didn't clean one.
I'd like for you tell her, when we're lugging quarters across a bog at 730 am, freezin cold, enjoyin the outdoors, her gun on her shoulder, loaded hot if a bear comes lookin, that she shouldn't call herself a hunter cause she don't have blood on her hands. I guarantee if ya did you'd have a lump on your forehead.
If you're not encouraging and promoting us, keep quiet.
Being hunters we are ambassadors for our Hunting community.
As for a few of the posts on the first page, Man, where are you idiots coming from. Someone starts off with "I'm new" and you guys jump on it.
"Don't call yourself hunter"
Don't you, dumbass.
If you don't posess the people skills to help in the learning and recruiting of new people to our community of hunting, then just shut up !!!
You give the potential hunter, a negative feeling right from the start.
My work involves all kinds of blood and guts and everything in between, and no I don't like the smell, and no I don't like being covered in it. Nothing wrong with it !!!
As for fish and deer and all else. My girl has shot lots of animals, cooked em, and we ate em !
I'm pretty sure she didn't clean one.
I'd like for you tell her, when we're lugging quarters across a bog at 730 am, freezin cold, enjoyin the outdoors, her gun on her shoulder, loaded hot if a bear comes lookin, that she shouldn't call herself a hunter cause she don't have blood on her hands. I guarantee if ya did you'd have a lump on your forehead.
If you're not encouraging and promoting us, keep quiet.
Being hunters we are ambassadors for our Hunting community.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
sealhunter said:
very well said
- Location
- AB foothills
I do agree with most of your post. But, if you(sealhunter) were an ambassador for our Hunting community you probably wouldnt start a magnum bashing thread would you
What if a new hunter wanted to start hunting but only had a magnum to hunt with, would you bash him or her for thier choice of firearms?
Maybe if a new hunter read your magnum bashing post(which is what it was) he or she might get a negative feeling right from the start.
Maybe you should take a pill of your own advice. Get my point
